Malta's CO2 crisis

At a time when not a day passes without climate change issues making headlines, I was utterly disappointed by the absolute lack of reaction to the sensational front page article that informed us that Malta had lost its bid to raise its CO2 limits (September 5). The Times felt the need to kick-start some discussion on the matter some days later in an excellent editorial (September 13).

Climate change is hitting home. Not in the sense that we are noticing a millimetric increase in sea level (which may also be happening), but in a way that hurts us more directly - in our pockets, and as early as next year!

As from 2008, Malta will be subject to hefty fines if we exceed the emissions limit imposed on our two power stations. The penalty is €100 per tonne - which would work out to a staggering €410 million between 2008 and 2012. That's almost half the €855 million Malta has obtained in terms of EU funds for the same period!

And yet, in spite of the grave implications of the last sentence, I have yet to see a single opinion article from our local politicians and economists on the matter - be they of the blue, red or green camp. And it's not as if we're at the periphery of where it's happening. The driving force behind world-wide climate change abatement is the EU, yes, the same EU in which we have (or are supposed to have) a continual and active presence.

There is a whole multi-billion dollar carbon trading market out there but insular Malta seems to be stuck in another time zone - one where the overall indicator of quality of life and economic activity is measured by the number of development applications submitted to Mepa and by the number of high-powered cars on our roads.

One does not have to be an economist to understand the basic fact that if fines are to be paid by Enemalta (or if Enemalta buys credits to offset the fine), the unit price of electricity will have to go up, which will result in another sharp increase in the surcharge. The cost of living will go up, as will the cost of the Maltese product in general (be it manufactured goods or tourism). This will be a bitter pill for the public to swallow and a major blow to Malta's competitiveness. It is always better to prevent, rather than cure - even though at this stage Malta is already terminally ill. The symptoms are there for all to see - electricity demand has been increasing at a phenomenal rate, despite the introduction of the surcharge some years back. There is general ignorance on basic energy saving measures at all levels - domestic, commercial and industrial. And I do not exempt public entities here either. There has never been a planned and coherent national energy and water saving campaign.

The electricity subsidies for heavy industry are killing off any incentives for energy efficiency or the promotion of widespread use of renewables. The government's inexplicable reluctance to embrace renewables will result in the country failing to achieve even the dismal figure of one per cent by 2010. The Minimum Energy Performance in Buildings Regulations exist only on paper (to give the false impression to the EU Commission that our house is in order).

In spite of the brave show put across by our politicians, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebags was clearly not impressed by our progress in energy and climate change matters and did not mince his words during his visit to Malta earlier this year. Malta is not doing enough with regard to efficient energy use and renewables.

Malta undoubtably has one of the highest costs for electricity generation worldwide. The power plant is obsolete and runs on expensive low-sulphur oil. The fact that 60 per cent of our water supply comes from an energy-intensive process does not help. Compounded by the fact that energy-wasteful apartments are mushrooming (and will be around for decades) and that a number of energy-guzzling projects are planned for the next few years (Mater Dei, SmartCity), there is no doubt that we now have an energy problem of massive proportions on our hands.

And let us not delude ourselves into believing that planting a few trees here and there will go a long way towards mitigating against climate change. There are hundreds of reasons why we should plant trees, but reducing greenhouse gas emissions, unfortunately, is not one of them. The only way out of this CO2 crisis is to acknowledge that it exists here and now, and by engaging in an all-encompassing mature discussion on the options left at our disposal. Most importantly, we have to act fast!